school toilets, no electricity etc, and state failing to provide access to education for children with disabilities. Following is a case that was lodged at HRCM in 2011, on denial of the right to education:‐ 188. A brief paper on “the issue of Children not being vaccinated and not allowed to attend schools in Maldives” was undertaken by HRCM in 2011 to comprehend the reasons as to why students do not attend schools. The greatest limitation to this paper was inability to obtain proper statistics on the school drop‐out rates. No statistics have been maintained on the school drop‐out rates in Male’ by the State, although, statistics were available on the drop‐out numbers in atoll schools. The findings of this analysis revealed that as of March 8, 2011 there are a total of 213 children not attending schools in the atolls and out of which 124 were boys and 71 girls (i.e. pre‐school, primary and secondary level included). Moreover, among these 213 children the highest numbers of children not attending schools were children with disabilities standing at 19 per cent. Out of the 21 atolls in the country only 12 islands in 14 atolls established Special Education Needs (SEN) classes for children with disabilities.72 Even on the 12 islands that had established SEN classes, not all children with disability were found to be attending these classes. 189. Children are also subjected to neglect and discrimination by parents or teachers. There is no penalty imposed on this law on protection of the rights of the child. FCPD is aware that there are cases where children are neglected by school teachers, and they are concerned that this could be a factor that leads to drop‐out rates in schools. 190. The data from the HRCM’s analysis shows children not attending school at only primary and secondary level from the atoll based schools (preschool data not included). Chapter: Article 24: Rights of the Child a) A 13 year old girl, who was gang‐raped(where one of the perpetrators included a classmate), was suspended from school by the school board, until Police concludes investigation and judiciary issues a verdict on the case. In the event of her suspension one of the alleged perpetrators belonging to the same class as the victim was not held in suspension. During the investigation, HRCM consulted all the relevant stakeholders involved in the case, including FCSC, Police Station, Province Office of the Atoll, with the school board and with MoE advising them on immediate measures that need to be taken. When the proposition by HRCM to immediately remove her from suspension was disregarded, HRCM exercised its powers by issuing a directive to MoE to immediately implement HRCM’s recommendation. Initially, MoE disregarded the directive issued by HRCM; however, following HRCM’s 2nd request to an appointment with the Minister of Education, the 2 children involved in the case were informed that they could attend the school. 73